Car-coupling



No. 6|o,5|9. Patented sept. la, |398.

R. C. B'ECKETT. A

CAB COUPLING.

(Application med out. 25, 1897,)

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EEEEEE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD C. BECKETT, OF WEST POINT, MISSISSIPPI.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 610,519, dated September 13, 1898.

Application tiled October 25, 1897. Serial No. 656,380. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD C. BECKETT, residing at West Point, in the county of Clay and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Couplings,

'of Which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description.

My invention is an improvement in automatic pivoted-jaw car-couplings; and the novelty resides chiefly in the construction and ar rangement of the springs and disengagin g devices with the jaws, as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an end view of a freight-car having my irnproved coupling attached. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my coupling. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section of the coupling. Fig. 4is a side vier of one of the catches and its attached lever-triggers.

The hollow draw-heads A are rabbeted or halved at their meeting ends, which thus form square abutting edges orsurfaces. The drawheads thus protect the coupling mechanism proper and also take the shock attending collision in coupling cars to which they are respectively connected.

Within each draw-head A a catch B is pivotally mounted on a transverse rod a, and their outer ends h are beveled and shouldered on the inner side to adapt them to slide into locking engagement, as shown in Fig. 2. Such beveled free end of each catch B is provided With a spring attachment composed of a helical spring C and a hooked rod D, which it encircles. The said rod is permanently connected With the catch B and projects laterally through a hole a' in the side of the drawhead, the hooked free end of the same overlapping the edge of such hole, as shown. The spring C seats on a shoulder formed in said hole c'. It is apparent that by this construction and arrangement of the spring attachment the free ends of the catches B are pressed inward far enough to cause engagement of the same and to hold them locked against accidental disengagement; also, that the hooks d prevent the springs C forcing the catches B inward beyond the point which insures proper sliding engagement of their beveled ends b.

To disengage thecatches B, as illustrated in Fig. 3, I employ devices in the nature of lever-triggers E, which are straight bars arranged in longitudinal slots b' in the catches B and pivoted on cross-pins e. A pull-rod F is pivotally connected With the rear end of each trigger and extends through a hole a2 in the side of a draw-head A, its outer end being in practice connected with another pull-rod or chain, which may extend to the side or top of a car. In Fig. l I show a chain G attached and Winding on a rotatable vertical shaft H, havinga hand-Wheel I on each end. This attachment, however, particularly applies to freight-cars.

It will be seen that by the arrangement of the springs C near the front ends of the catches B the springs act With greater power and certainty, and the stop-rods D also serve as holders and guides therefor. Besides, this arrangement leaves space at the rear for application of the pull-rods F, that operate the triggers E. I thus avoid practical defects in couplings of this class in which flat platesprings are used to act on the rear portion of the draw-heads and in which horizontal rods extend from the side through the catches for operating the triggers.

l Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- Y The improved car-coupling composed of the hollow draw-heads having their ends halved and forming abutting shoulders, the beveled catches pivoted in the respective draw-heads, the spring attachments of said catches, which consist of hooked stop-rods secured to the free lfront portions of the catches and extend through adjacent holes in the draw-heads, and helical sprin gs encircling such rods and seated in sockets in the draw-heads, and the levertriggers composed of straight bars pivoted in a slot in the catches, and pull-rods extending through holes in the draw-heads, as shown and described.

R. C. BECKETT.

Witnesses:

J. W. BRADY, W. L. D oRR. 

